Come Back To Me
by allieisrandom
Summary: What if the night that Kris had left Raintree had been dark and stormy? A terrible accident occurs, leaving someone seriously injured...
1. I Won't Let Her Go

"I love her! I won't let her go!" shouted Matt as he stormed out of his house, ignoring his mom, ignoring his brother, ignoring the deafening thunderclap that he heard as he jumped into his truck. All that he cared about in the world right now was getting his girlfriend back.

As his truck sped down the slick highway, Matt ran through the list of places that Kris could possibly be. Bobbys? No, too obvious. Davis Farms? Ditto, plus the fact that Pablo and the Davis's all hated her. Rays? No, they hadn't been there in years. Where in the world could she possibly go? _Anywhere_. Matt's heart dropped when he realized that. Kris could be anywhere in the whole entire world.

Suddenly, it occured to Matt that Wildfire was at Davis Farms and that it made sense that Kris would stop there just one more time to see her. If she wasn't there, maybe she was at the bus station. _Wherever she is_, thought Matt. _I am going to find her and bring her home to Raintree if it _kills_ me._

As the lightning flashed outside and the raindrops tapped the windows of the truck faster and harder, Matt pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and quickly dialed Junior's number, which he had memorized by heart. He hoped that Junior would tell him if Kris had stopped by to see Wildfire. That would get him to the bus station faster than if he had to go look himself. He sighed with relief when his best friend's voice crackled through the line, "Hello?"

"Hey Junior, it's Matt," said Matt.

"Matt, is that you?" said Junior.

"I'm sorry, I just need to know. Have you seen Kris?"

"Huh?" said Junior. "I can't hear you!"

"No, she's not near me," yelled Matt. "That's why I'm asking you."

"That's just what I said!" said Junior. "I can't hear you."

Matt's heart was racing now. Why wasn't Junior telling him where Kris was? Did that mean that she was at Davis Farms or not? Matt wanted to know where she was so badly it hurt. No, he _needed _to know where she was. He wasn't paying much attention to the fact that he was going about ten miles per hour faster than the speeding limit. He also wasn't thinking about the fact that there was so much water on the road that he was almost hydroplaning. And the last thing on his mind was the fact that he had forgotten to get the emergency brake on the truck fixed last week.

"Matt?" said Junior. "Are you still there?"

"Yeah," said Matt. "Where's Kris?"

That time Junior understood. "I don't know. Do you know where she is?" There was no answer. "Matt?" said Junior. "MATT?"

Then came the deafening sound of the crash.


	2. One More Chance

Todd turned his head away from the barn filled with empty stalls, the empty pastures, and the empty trailers and headed towards the near-empty house. His mother was sitting in the dining room, but she might as well not have been. All she was doing was starring at the empty surface of the table with the most empty look on her fact anyone ever saw. She was usually doing some sort of paperwork there. But what was there left to do now? No entry forms for races needed to be filled out. No feed or tack needed to be ordered. No paychecks needed to be signed. All their bills had already been paid with the sale prices of the horses. There was nothing left.

"Mom?" said Todd. "Where are Kris and Matt?"

Jean didn't react. This frightened him. Just then, the phone rang. Todd walked up to it, almost crying because he felt like he was the only person left in the world do answer it. "Hullo?" he said.

"Todd?" said the person on the end of the line. Todd recognized it.

"Junior?" said Todd. "Do _you_ know where Kris and Matt are?"

"Sorry buddy, but I need to talk to your mom _now_," said Junior.

"I don't think that she wants to talk to anybody," said Todd. "Sorry." He looked to Jean for conformation, and she nodded at him.

"Tell her it's an emergency," said Junior.

"What's the emergency?" said Todd. At this, Jean perked up. When Todd said, "What about Matt?" she came over and snatched the phone.

"Junior, Matt's okay, isn't he?" said Jean.

"I have no idea," said Junior. "I was just talking to him and he was in his car, and all of a sudden there was this terrible noise."

"Oh my god," said Jean. "We've got to go out and look for him."

"I'll come, too," said Junior.

"Is there anyone you can bring?" said Jean. "We need a search party."

"Mom, what happened to Matt?" asked Todd.

"Shh!" said Jean. "I don't know."

"I'll help you look for him," said Todd.

"Sure," said Jean. She actually would have prefered to not have him there, but it wasn't like she could leave him all alone at their now completely empty farm worrying.

"Pablo just said he'll take his truck out and help," said Junior. "Gillian's coming in the car with me. Dad, of course, is too busy. Just like he always is. I'd ask Dani, but she's missing, too. What about Kris?"

"Not here," said Jean quickly. "We'll all go out and look. Let me know as soon as you find out anything."

"I will, of course," said Junior.

By the time Junior had put on his raincoat and made it outside, Gillian had already fixed the top over his silver porshe convertible. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate this, Gill."

"No problem," said Gillian. "I care about Matt, too."

"Yeah," said Junior. "I KNOW." He rememberd the words that she had said to him just a few days ago, "I'm still in love with Matt. I don't want to hurt you"

Carefully, making sure that they didn't get into any accidents themselves, Pablo, Jean and Todd, and Junior and Gillian all drove down the road in their seperate cars. Jean was shaking as she pressed the turn signal to get to the next place that she wanted to look for Matt and as she picked up her ringing cell phone and flipped it open. "Hello?" she said.

"Hi, this is Dr. Riley at the hospital. I need to speak with Jean Ritter."

"This is she," said Jean. Her heart was about to pound out of her chest now. "Is...is something wrong with my son?"

"Yes," said the doctor. "There's been a terrible accident. I suggest that you get to the hospital as soon as possible. You may only get one more chance to see him."


	3. Stay Together

Meanwhile, a little ways up the road, Kris starred out the window of Dani's car. She vaguely heard her ranting about Ken and Junior and how they would be sorry or something like that. In the back of her mind, the events of the match race kept replaying in her head over and over. Sweet talking Matt into calling Shiek Omar back. Swinging up onto Wildfire's back and urging him to run like he'd never run before. Seeing that obstacle in her path. Begging him to do it for Raintree, even though either of them might get hurt. Riding back to Raintree with her head held high and the briefcase full of money on her lap, only to be ambushed by Pablo, Jean, and the authorities. Begging them to take only her license and leave all her friends alone. The feeling of relief when they agreed. Watching Wildfire walk up the ramp of the Davis Farms horse trailer. Pablo's words, "When you stole this horse, you turned back the clock" as if she were fresh out of Camp Lagrange, only worse. And worst of all, Jean, who'd told her just days earlier that she thought of her like a daughter, looking at her as though she'd just stabbed her in the back and saying, "You can't stay there anymore". And then the look on Matt's face as she walked away from him for the last time.

Kris looked up for just a moment and realized that traffic ahead of them was at a standstill. "Dani, slow down."

"Are you kidding?" said Dani. "I can't get you to the bus station fast enough."

"No really, Dani," said Kris. "Nobody's moving."

"Oh," said Dani. Then she gently pressed her foot down on the brake and looked up ahead at the congested traffic that was starting to be detoured.

"Excuse me?" shouted Dani, rolling down the window of her car and allowing rain to sprinkle in into her sweater. "Can you help me get through to the bus station?"

"Sorry, Ma'am," said the cop. "There's been a bad crash up ahead. Some kid driving his truck at like ninety miles an hour had a head-on collision with a moving van going twenty. Anyways, you'll have to wait in line to get off the highway just like everybody else. The nearest bus station is about an hour away from there."

"Oh, great," mumbled Dani. "Could my day get any worse?"

"For whatever it's worth, mine couldn't either," said Kris.

"Yeah well, that's what you get for breaking the law," said Dani. "Shouldn't you have learned that by now!"

"Save it," mumbled Kris. But she knew that Danni was right. How was it that she could spend eighteen months in jail-twenty-one if she counted the extra time for saving Wildfire-and still not learn her lesson? Trying to find a workaround when it came to the law was a bad idea. Period.

"So," said Dani a while later. "Where do you think you're gonna go? Back to your drugged-up slutty Mom, your dead bead dad, or your still-in-and-out-of-jail brother?"

"No way," said Kris. "Not any of them." She never wanted to see either of her parents again as long as she lived, and if she did see Jace again, it definitely wouldn't be to ask him for help.

"I just think I'm gonna stick it out on my own for a while," said Kris.

"That's a good idea," said Dani. "That way there's nobody who's life you can ruin."

"Exactly," said Kris. The car came to a stop at the front of the bus station. Kris unbuckled her seatbelt and picked up her suitcase. "Just curious. What happened to Shiek Omar?"

Dani shrugged. "I don't think that we're ever going to see him again. Thanks for mentioning him, though. Now I have somebody else who I get to be pissed at for getting me in trouble with this whole match race thing even though I backed out of it."

"Goodbye, Dani," said Kris as she got out of the car. "Thanks for the ride."

Dani blinked her eyes. That's when she suddenly realized that once Kris left, she would have nobody left. Not even to fight with. She wasn't sure she could handle that right now, and there was nobody else who she could go to anymore. "Wait," said Dani. Kris turned around. "Why don't we stay together?"

"Really?" said Kris. "I thought you wanted to get rid of me."

"Nah," said Dani. "Come on, get back in the car. We might end up killing each other by morning, but at least we won't be alone."

Kris shrugged. She didn't really have any plan at the moment, so she might as well stay with Dani and see if things worked out. If not, she wouldn't be any worse off than she was right now. "Okay," said Kris. Then she climbed back into the car and pulled the door shut.

Kris looked around when she heard the song Misery Business playing from somewhere in my car. "Where's that song coming from?" she asked.

"My phone," said Dani. "Weird. I thought that was my ringtone for you." Then she pulled it out of her pocket. "Nope. Junior." Then she rolled down her window, took her phone, and threw it out into the rain. "I don't need those idiots, Kris. You and me don't need anybody anymore but ourselves."


	4. Impossible

"Junior, why are we going so fast?" asked Gillian

"That was Jean," said Junior. "Matt's in the hospital in critical condition."

"Oh my god," said Gillian. "But please don't go so fast. Do you want us to be in the hospital with him?"

"We'll be fine," said Junior, not taking his eyes off the wet road. "We're the ones in the porshe, and besides, the rain has stopped."

"Be careful," said Gillian. "Please!"

"You don't understand," said Junior. "I can't let my best friend die without forgiving him."

"You aren't still mad at him for going out with your ex girlfriend?" said Gillian. Then she paused. "Sorry. That was a stupid question to ask at a time like this."

"It's okay," said Junior. "No, I'm not. After all, I did kiss you twice. Are you still mad at him for cheating on you?"

"Not right now," said Gillian. Then she thought about it for a moment. "Actually, no. After all, I did sleep with Cary while we were dating."

Junior nearly choaked. "_What_?"

"Oh, dammit," said Gillian. "Kris didn't tell anyone?"

"Well, nobody told me!" said Junior. "Was Kris dating Cary at the same time?" Gillian nodded. "So let me get this straight. First he cheated on you with Kris, then he cheated on Kris with you, and then he tried to take the money that Raintree won in the breeders and run away and never come back. WOW."

"Sorry," said Gillian. "I can only imagine what you must think of me now."

"Nah," said Junior. "Anyone can make a mistake once."

Gillian's eyebrows raised. "Have you?"

Junior shrugged. "One time when I was kind of sort of almost dating this girl named Rebecca, I slept with Kris. I thought it would end up being something more, but it turned out to just be a one night thing. But other than that...I guess I've never really had anybody to cheat on to begin with besides Kris."

Suddenly, Gillian felt sorry for him. She squeezed his right arm under his wrist and looked at him. Junior smiled. That's when they saw the sign for the hospital coming up ahead, reminding them both of what was really going on right now.

Inside the hospital, Jean was talking to one of the doctors about Matt's injuries. "He's shattered his right arm and shoulder blade, which will eventually reqiure extensive surgery to fix. He also had a minor injury to his right hip and to his left shoulder blade. And as you can imagine, he's covered in scrapes and cuts from being thrown from the vehicle. But our biggest concern right now is his brain."

Jean's face was white as a sheet when she asked, "What about his brain?"

"I don't know," said the doctor. "All I know is that they're in there working to stop the bleeding."

"So, is Matt going to die or not?" asked Todd, who was trying to look tough but not very good at it.

The doctor shook his head again. "I don't know. We'll do the best we can. One of us will come out and let you know as soon as we've figured out anything." Then he turned around and disappeared back into the operating room where Matt was lying on the table.

Jean nearly laughed. This was impossible. There was no way in the world that this day was happening. Wildfire was still the official runner-up for the Bristol stakes. Kris was at Raintree doing a last minute check on all the horses. And Matt was probably reading in his bunkhouse.

"Where is he?" Jean turned around when she heard Junior and Gillian coming up behind her.

"In the operating room," she said. In the operating room. Yes! Wildfire was at Davis Farms! The other horses has been sold! Kris was GONE! And Matt was in the operating room! What a big joke. She was about to wake up in her bed at Raintree and burst out laughing about this. Any minute now.

"I'm going to stay here until they learn anything," said Jean. "Could you guys give Todd a ride back to Raintree?"

"No way," said Todd. "I'm staying right here with you."

"So are we," said Junior.

"Good," said Jean. "Because I think I'm starting to lose my mind."


	5. Could Be Never

For the next few hours, Junior, Gillian, Jean, Pablo, and Todd all sat in the waiting room at the emergency room. One time, Junior's cell phone rang. "Hello? No, we may not get back tonight. I don't remember whether we signed that contract or not, okay? My best friend is in the operating room." Then Ken rambled on about something else having to do with Davis Farms. "Hey, Dad?" said Junior. "You know something?" In an instant, Junior pressed the red button on his cell phone to end the call and then pressed it again and held it down until it was off.

Other than that, the five of them just sat in complete silence.

At around two thirty in the morning, they were still sitting there feeling utterly hopeless and helpless. "Why doesn't Kris come out and tell us what's going on?" said Pablo.

"Yeah, I mean, she must know we're all here," said Todd. "Maybe I could sneak back there and ask her."

"No, don't!" said Jean quickly. "Nobody's back there with Matt but the doctors and nurses right now. They wouldn't allow it."

"She must be," said Junior. "Where else would Kris be at a time like this?"

"She doesn't know about the accident," said Jean.

"Huh?" said Gillian.

Pablo grabbed Jean's shoulder. "Jean, I'm mad at her, too, but we have to tell Kris that Matt is in the hospital. For both their sakes."

Jean looked away from everyone. "I don't know where Kris is anymore because I kicked her out of Raintree."

"_What_?" said Pablo, Todd, and Junior.

"Mom, you _can't_ be serious!" said Todd.

"You kicked her out, like, forever?" said Junior. "She's just…gone?"

Jean didn't say anything. They were right. She never should have kicked Kris out.

If she hadn't kicked Kris out, then Matt wouldn't be in the hospital fighting for his life.

"Mom!" said Todd. "How could you…"

"Okay, I think she's got it," said Pablo, half-snapping at Todd. "Everybody just leave her alone."

"Excuse me?" said a doctor. "I need to speak to the family of Matthew James Ritter."

"That's us," said Jean, quickly standing up along with all of the others.

The doctor came over and quickly introduced himself to Matt's family and friends. "The good news is that he is still alive and that we've managed to successfully operate on his brain. But unfortunately, he's not out of the woods yet. There's still some internal bleeding. But he's fighting hard."

Jean nodded quietly. So did Junior and Gillian. "Is he gonna lose all his memories like they do in the movies?" said Todd.

"Probably not," said the doctor. "But right now, we can't tell. He's in a coma."

All five of the already frightened people froze in terror. "He's going to wake up soon, though," said Gillian. "Right?"

"We don't know," said the doctor. "Could be in ten minutes. Could be in ten months. Could be in ten years."

"Could be never," whispered Jean, almost as if she hardly dared say the words out loud.

The doctor nodded sympathetically. "Exactly."

"And if you want to float, you just lay flat on your back like this," said Dani, effortlessly twisting her body around in the water until she was resting on her back like she was laying on a couch.

"Tell me something," said Kris, half-swimming half-walking across the hotel pool to where Dani was. "Where are you getting the money for us to spend all these weeks at the Ritz?"

"From Dad's credit cards," said Dani. "Where else? I think I deserve it, after I took the fall for them."

"I agree," said Kris.

Then Dani groaned and walked over to the side of the pool. "I'm gonna lay down now."

"Are you still not feeling well?" said Kris.

Dani nodded. "I think it's just a twenty-four hour bug."

"For the third day in the row?" said Kris. "Are you sure it's not something else? Like maybe a nine month bug?"

"Kris!" snapped Dani. "That's none of your business!"

Kris shrugged. "Fine. But don't you think I'd notice eventually?"

Dani sighed and rolled over onto her side right there on the concrete floor next to the pool. "No, no, no! I can't be pregnant with RJ's child. We only ever did it twice and used condoms!"

"Condoms break," said Kris. "Trust me, I know. That was always the explanation for me. People who knew my mom would be like, "Barb! I didn't know you had a kid!" and she'd say "Oh well I was using a condom, but it broke." As if she were denying that it's her fault that I exist."

"Eh, don't feel bad," said Dani. "I was a mistake, too."

"Yeah, why?" said Kris. "Did your mom not mean to get pregnant again with you so soon after she had Junior?"

"Noooooo," said Danni. "My mom didn't _have _Junior. My dad paid her off when he found out she was pregnant with me so that Isabelle-his wife and Junior's mom-wouldn't know he'd had sex with my mom. Which she did when my mom ended up sending me back to live with my dad when I was one because she couldn't take care of me anymore. Or at least that's what Dad told me."

Kris nodded. "My dad was married to somebody else, too. Her name was Adriana Furillo, and they had a son six years older than me named Jace. They didn't even know about us until I was like five. I remember my mom woke me up in the middle of the night and told me that my dad's wife walked in on them "playing in bed" together. My mom was thrilled. She kept telling me that Adriana was going to file for divorce and now my dad would be all ours and he would help her stay clean and that we could get ourselves a new apartment with food and electricity and hot water. We never saw my dad again after that night, and neither did Adriana and Jace."

"Wow," said Dani. "Sorry."

Kris shrugged. "It's okay. What happened happened." Then suddenly something clicked in her head. "So Junior's only your half-brother then, huh?"

"Not anymore," said Dani. "As of right now, I no longer have any connection to the Davis family whatsoever."

"Ms. Davis?" said one of the hotel attendants.

"Yeah?" said Dani.

"I'm sorry, but apparently your credit card has been cancelled," he said. "If you wish to stay here another night, you'll have to come up with another method of payment."

"Sure," said Dani. "How much will it be?"

"Two hundred and fifty dollars," said the attendant.

"_What_?" said Dani.

"We can't afford that," said Kris.

"Then I guess you'd better start packing," said the attendant. "Check out time is in forty-five minutes."

"I guess he's right," said Kris, climbing up the ladder and out of the water.

"I can't believe I'm pregnant," said Dani. "How is it that I grew up on Davis Farms and I still ended up in the exact same situation that my mother was in?"

"You're not in the exact situation your mother was in," said Kris. "You know that RJ would be here if he could."

Dani closed her eyes. "Kris, please don't mention RJ. Let's just go upstairs and pack."

"Okay," said Kris. "But where are we gonna go?"

"As far away from Raintree and Davis farms as we can get," said Dani. "Pronto."

TO BE CONTINUED IN SIX MONTHS…


	6. Life is too Short

Matt's body lay on his hospital bed, the same place that it had been for nearly seven months now. His mind was somewhere entirely different. He was running through the woods that had grown over the back of Raintree trying to catch Kris. At first when he was running he had been able to see her clearly right ahead of him, but as time went by, her image faded more and more and it got further and further away from him. He wondered how long it would be before she disappeared entirely, and he would be out here looking for nothing.

"Hey, buddy. How are you doing?"

Matt stopped and looked around. He recognized that voice. But he couldn't see the person who was talking anywhere in the dark, cloudy woods.

"Well okay, that was a stupid question. Come to think of it, asking you any questions right now is pretty stupid."

Matt heard the faint music of a woman's laugh.

"Hey Matt, it's Junior and Gillian," said the woman's voice. "Remember when we said we were going to Europe for a few months. Well, we just got home yesterday. Let me tell you, it was amazing!"

"We went to twelve different countries. We took lots of pictures. I'm putting one of them next to your bed. Gillian took it of me standing at the top of the Eiffel tower."

"His mouth is open and he's screaming like an idiot."

"I was NOT screaming. I was shouting."

"Whatever. You still looked like an idiot."

"Oh, stop!"

Both of the people standing by Matt's bed started laughing. Matt knew who they were and vaguely remembered hearing them say goodbye to him before they went on vacation. But what did any of this have to do with getting Kris back?

"And the food was amazing! Man, those Italians sure do know how to make pizza!"

"Italians _invented_ pizza."

"Really? I thought they invented ice cream."

Matt managed to listen to all the chatter about his friends' travels while still keeping up with Kris's disappearing translucent form running through the woods. The biggest voice echoing through his mind all the time now was his own. "I'm getting Kris back because I need her! I love her! I won't let her go!"

"Well, we have to go now. But we'll come back and visit you again a few more times before we leave for Kentucky. Ken Davis has Avatar in a race up there next Saturday."

"And then we're not sure what we're going to do. But if there's one thing that we've both learned from your accident, Matt, it's that life is too short not to live in the moment. So it's gonna be good. I miss you, best friend."

"I miss you, too. Take care, Matt."

Accident? What accident? All Matt knew was that he couldn't and wouldn't stop trying to catch up to Kris. Not now, and not ever.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, many, many miles away, Kris was also racing through the woods. Only in her case it was literal. "Come on, boy!" she whispered, encouraging her horse to go faster and sprint the last ten meters of the track. "We can do this!" Not that he needed to anyway, because the other horse was nearly thirty feet behind him.<p>

"Woohoo!" said Danni as Kris and the horse came into view. "My Bullwinkle did it again!" Then she turned to the owners of the other horses in the race. "Pay up, cowboys!"

Grudgingly, the three guys surrounding her opened their wallets. "Say," said one of them. "Where have I seen this here rider before?"

"Probably on TV," said Danni proudly as she pocketed the money. "That, my friend, is Kris Furillo."

The cowboys burst out laughing. "You're saying you got Kris Furillo to come on down here from Raintree Farms and ride your horse in our trail race? What's next, you'll get President Obama to resign and become the mayor of our town?"

"Nah," said Danni. "It would take too long to get ahold of him."

"Just curious," said one of the cowboys glancing at Danni's protruding stomach. "Is this your first?"

"Yup," said Danni. "First and only."

"Your husband doesn't want any more kids?" guessed one.

"He's _dead_," snapped Danni. "I don't want to talk about it." She didn't bother to correct him on thinking that RJ had been her husband. After all, he probably would have married her eventually. Especially now. "So, how about another race on Saturday? Wilhelm versus Striker."

"You got yourself a deal," said one of them.

"I'll bet Thunderbolt could race, too," said another one.

How different this was from the business deals that Danni used to make back at Davis Farms. Everything was different here. If someone had told Danni a year ago that she would be getting kicked out of the family business, making money trail racing with her former worst enemy, and carrying the baby of some dead guy Junior had met at the rodeo, she would have had them sent to the nuthouse. And here it was, happening. In a lot of ways being in the trail racing business was a huge step down from running Davis Farms, but in some ways Danni also liked it better. The negotiations were much cleaner. There was nobody trying to con anybody else into signing a bad contract or making a bad investment or buying the wrong yearling. Just three or four horses galloping down a dirt path trying their best with whatever riders they could find. Of course, most of the riders people could get for their horses in this town were teenage girls who needed some extra money to save for cars or college and happened to know a little about horseback riding. Not ex-jockeys who had once won the Breeders Invitational riding Wildfire against Tina Sharp. So yeah, Danni and Kris's horses ended up winning the race pretty much every time.

When they got back home, Danni went inside to relax and run some numbers on the money they had made while Kris went out to take care of their three stallions: Striker, their fastest one, Bullwinkle, their most reliable one, and two-year-old Spectacle, their youngest one, who wasn't quite ready to be raced yet. Kris bathed Bullwinkle and gave him a good brushing to reward him for a job well done and then fed all three of the horses. Then she put a saddle on Spectacle and took him outside to lunge him. By Thoroughbred standards, she knew it would be high time to start riding on him. But these were all Quarter Horses and weren't bred for racing on a track, so she didn't know. _I wish Pablo were here to help me_, Kris thought. _Or…_

Kris quickly put the name of her other favorite horse trainer out of her mind and went back to concentrating on the colt. She couldn't think about him anymore. He'd probably forgotten about her by now anyway.


	7. Come With Me

Jean sat on her couch folding laundry in her new two-bedroom apartment in town. After she put all the clothes away, she would have a few more hours to herself before Todd got home from school. And then more spare time while he was outside hanging out with his friends and playing video games until dinner. She knew that he was starting to go crazy living with just her when his whole life he'd had all the people and horses at Raintree to hang out with. "This place is too small!" he always told her. Compared to the house they used to live in, that was definitely true. The piles of unpacked boxes did not help with the fact. Jean and Todd had yet to finish sorting through what stuff they actually wanted to have in the apartment with them and what they wanted to box up and store in Matt's empty bunkhouse. Aside from that building, all of Raintree was being leased out.

Tap tap, there was a knock on the front door. Jean stood up slowly as she wondered who the heck it could be. Nobody ever came over to the apartment to visit. Aside from a few very close friends, Jean hadn't given people their new address. Before they even moved out of Raintree, she had gotten sick of all the people coming buy to tell her they were sorry and that they didn't know what to say. What could there possibly be to say? She had tried to keep Kris and Matt apart, and in doing so, she had lost both of them forever.

"Who is it?" asked Jean sharply.

"It's Junior and Gillian," said Junior. "We just wanted to say hi."

But she was already opening the door. "Hey you guys. I didn't even know you were back!"

"Just since yesterday," said Gillian. "We brought you something from Paris." She pulled a tiny perfume bottle out of her purse and handed it to Jean.

"Aw, thank you," said Jean. "That was very thoughtful of you. I think I'll wear it the next time I go to visit Matt."

"And you could wear it to the race on Saturday," Junior suggested.

"Race?" said Jean. "What race?"

"You know, Wildfire versus Ishmael," said Junior. "Well, and a bunch of other horses, but they never matter, right?"

"Oh yeah," said Jean. "Pablo mentioned that he was entering him in that. You'll have to let me know how it goes. Unless they show it on TV."

"You didn't even know Wildfire was racing?" said Junior. "Did you sell your half of him back to Pablo, or do you just never get out of the house?"

"_Junior_…" hissed Gillian.

"It's okay," said Jean. "He's right. I really don't get out that much anymore since I moved out of Raintree. I only leave the apartment on Sundays when I go to the hospital to visit Matt. I do still own half of Wildfire, but I haven't seen him since…you know…so Pablo's been calling all the shots."

"Oh," said Junior. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," said Jean. "So, tell me about what you two have been doing?"

"Living life to it's fullest," said Junior.

"Definitely," said Gillian. "You wouldn't believe all that we've seen in the past four months."

"Did you see Kris by any chance?" said Jean.

Both Junior and Gillian looked confused. "No," said Junior. "What would SHE be doing in Europe?"

"I don't know," said Jean. "Sorry, I just had to ask if you'd seen her."

"We haven't," Gillian assured her. "Sorry."

"It's okay," said Jean. "I just keep wondering if...never mind, it's silly. Thank you so much for stopping by. And good luck at the race on Saturday."

"Thanks," said Junior. "Same to you."

As he and Gillian walked out the door, Junior started to think back to all the times that he hung out with Matt and Kris back at Raintree. Watching TV in the livingroom together eating tubs of ice cream. The wild party they'd thrown while Jean and Pablo and the others were out of town. Riding out to look for the missing horses with Dani.

"You know what?" said Junior. "After the race, let's go look for Kris and Dani."

"You really want to do that?" said Gillian. "Why? Wouldn't they have come back by now if they wanted to?"

"Not necessarily," said Junior. "Kris probably still feels guilty about what happened and, well, you know Dani. And even if they don't come back, I just really want to know what happened to them. Will you come with me?"

"Sure," said Gillian.

"Thanks," said Junior. "I knew I could count on you." He planted a quick kiss on her forehead. Both of them smiled. Nothing had ever felt this natural to them before.


	8. On Their Way

"You know what, Kris?" said Danni. "We need to fix this place up."

Kris looked at Danni doubtfully. "I think we need to get a new place." The property they were on right now was properly fenced but inadequate in all other ways. The horses lived in an overgrown pasture with a pole barn-that is, it had no stalls-and the run-down shack that Kris and Danni lived in only had three rooms: a bathroom, a tack room, and the room they both slept in that also had a kitchenette.

"We can't afford that right now," said Danni. "Not with all the money I've set aside for paying hospital bills when I go into labor."

"Why don't I just deliver the baby?" said Kris. Danni's face visibly blanched. "What? I delivered Flame. As long as you don't kick me in the face like Belladonna kept trying to, I think I could do it."

"Yeah, I don't think so," said Danni. "If you want to cut expenses, you could stop insisting on riding in those high quality racing saddles."

"But that's what I'm used to riding in," said Kris. "The last time I rode in a western saddle was when Wildfire and I escaped from that auction house."

"Hmph," said Danni. "I can't believe I'm eight months along and we haven't even bought a crib yet."

"How are we supposed to buy anything when we don't know what gender it is?" said Kris.

Danni shrugged. "Something generic, I guess? That's probably all we can afford anyways. If I could afford to get a cute crib, I could have afforded to get an ultrasound to look at the baby. I wouldn't even know the thing is alive if it wasn't for the fact that it keeps kicking me in the bladder."

Kris was quiet for a minute. "Do you ever think about what would happen if we hadn't done the match race?"

"No," said Danni.

Kris rolled her eyes. "Yeah you do."

Danni sighed. "Okay, you know what would have happened if we hadn't done the match race? I would have been back at Davis Farms when I found out I was pregnant, Junior would have been happy for me but he would probably decide to teach the baby how to do a whole bunch of stupid things, Dad would have tried to con me into giving the baby up for adoption OR WORSE, meanwhile I would still be in business with Shiek Omar and probably getting into more legal trouble and losing everything we have. So I'm probably better off."

Kris didn't think that Danni could possibly be worse off than this-especially being pregnant-but she didn't say anything. Kris played the "what if" game about the match race all the time. She imagined herself on Wildfire's back, the shiny silks with Raintree's colors clinging to her arms and chest, pounding down the track at lightning speed, the announcer calling out, "And it's Wildfire in first place!" and hearing the shouts and cheers from Raintree's box. Her whole family would come down to the winner's circle. The trophy would be handed to Jean and Matt. The blanket of flowers would be draped on Wildfire's back. Pablo would praise her and Wildfire and think again at how glad he was that he'd brought them to Raintree. Jean would give her a big hug and a sweet smile. And Matt…

No. She couldn't go there.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Wildfire," said Pablo. "You ready to run?"<p>

"I think he is!" said his excited young jockey. "We're gonna burn up the track today, aren't we big daddy?" She smooched Wildfire on the forehead.

"I thought you were meeting us at the track, Tina," said Pablo.

Tina rolled her eyes. "What's the point when our houses are on the same property? C'mon, let me ride shotgun. We can go over the plans for the race on the way there."

"Fine," said Pablo. "Just give me a few minutes to tell the boss where we're going."

Pablo shut the back door to the horse trailer and walked up to the big house of what was formerly known as Raintree Farm. As far as aesthetic appearance and technical design went, everything was pretty much the same. But the way it was operated was entirely different. The person calling the shots now was less sentimental than the Ritters were when it came to the business, but not uncaring about his horses and their welfare. Jean, Henry, and Matt had been all about tradition, but this new guy was all about progress without being ruthless like Ken Davis. Especially now that he saw his son hardly at all and his daughter never, Ken was more bitter and callus than ever. It hadn't taken long for everyone working with him to get sick and tired of it it, and the day Jean put Raintree's land up for lease, they'd all retreated.

"Hey," said Pablo, stepping into the entryway of Raintree's office. "I'm gonna be at the track with Wildfire and Tina for the next three hours. All the usual morning workouts are still on, the exercise girls know what to do."

"Excellent," said Tim looking up from his desk. "By the way, could you do something about Amelia's pony when you get back? He won't stop cribbing on his gate."

"Sure thing," said Pablo, although it was slightly absurd for Tim to be asking him-a racehorse trainer-to help get a Shetland pony to stop chewing on wood. "I'll see you again this afternoon to go over the feed supplements for Eyewitness and Dandelion."

"Of course," said Tim. "Good luck in the race."

"Thanks," said Pablo.

In the car, Tina had Pablo's radio on full blast. Instead of the country station it was usually set to, she was listening to a station that was playing some song that involved the words "birthday sex" over and over. "Turn the music off," said Pablo. "We have an important race to concentrate on."

"Okay, fine," said Tina. She lifted her leg and pressed the off button to the radio with her foot. "So, are there any other quality horses to worry about besides Avatar?"

"There are no other horses in that race who you need to concentrate on including Avatar," said Pablo. "Just focus on the one you're riding."

"Of course I'm always focused on Wildfire," said Tina. "But when there's another horse out there who could even come close to beating me, it never hurts to do a little extra something to slow them down. For instance, I could tell the jockey they look like they have appendicitis and need to get to the emergency room."

"Tina, that's not how you're going to do things when you're riding a horse of mine," said Pablo. "All you need to do is go out there and ride your best honest race. Understood?"

"Sure," said Tina. "I get it. You don't want any funny business. But you gotta admit, the way I do things does get results."

"Whatever," said Pablo. "That's not the way you're doing things riding Wildfire."

"Did you know that there are some racehorses that will respond to "Whoa" and some that won't?" said Tina.

"Yes, of course I do," said Pablo. "I train racehorses."

"I like riding the ones that don't better," said Tina. "That was if we're really close to the finish and there's another horse right by us, I can just yell whoa and they'll back off."

"You do that?" said Pablo. "Oh, yeah! I was wondering what Kris meant when she said that you talked to Wildfire that time."

Tina rolled her eyes. "Kris. I'm so glad she's gone, aren't you?"

Pablo sighed and turned the radio back on. Tina squealed, gave Pablo a big smile, and then laid back in her seat and closed her eyes. He hated the music, but he hated listening to Tina's voice even more. "Open the gate, will you?" said Pablo as they arrived at the new entryway to the farm they both lived at.

"Sure," said Tina. She hopped out and opened the black metal gates under the sign that read "Sullivan Stables". Now the radio was playing some pathetic song about Friday. If Kris were the one here, she wouldn't mind listening to country music. And Wildfire would have a better shot at winning, with or without cheating. Pablo still loved Jean, but he secretly hated the fact that she'd kicked Kris out of Raintree without even giving him a chance to talk to her and find out where she was going.

At the racetrack, Ken Davis's jockey was asking him for some last-minute instructions. "Where's the trainer?" asked Ken.

"Not sure," said the jockey. "He left."

"What?" said Ken. "The race hasn't even started yet."

The jockey shrugged. "He was complaining about his salary or something. Give me a leg up?"

Ken sighed and helped the jockey mount Avatar. Then he went back up to the box where Junior and Gillian were waiting for him. "I'm glad you guys could make it," said Ken. "Wish I could say the same for your sister."

"Well, you kind of did kick her out of the family business," said Junior.

"Well, she kind of did blow the whistle on the illegal match race and get everybody in trouble," said Ken. "Including the nice guy who owned this track and was about to get into a seventeen million dollar business deal with us."

"Shiek O'Hattan?" said Junior. "I didn't know he got in trouble."

"Well, duh," said Ken. "It was his idea. He got his license revoked, too. And now the track is being run by a lady who will permanently ban anyone who's ever drugged someone else's horse. How ruthless can you get?"

Junior didn't even know what to say to that.

"The horses are in the starting gate," said the announcer. "Theeeee flag is up!"

"The Raintree box looks quite empty," Ken commented. In fact, it was completely empty because Pablo was down by the rail. "Are the Ritters all dead or something?"

"We just saw them," said Gillian.

"Matt's still in a coma," said Junior. "Not that you'd care." Then he searched his father's stone-cold face for some hint of a reaction, but there was none.

"Oh my god," said Gillian. "Did you see that?"

"Huh?" said Junior. He turned back to the track to see that Tina was leading Wildfire limping off the track.

"Let's go," said Junior. He immediately started running over to where Wildfire was.

"See you later, Mr. Davis," said Gillian. She took off after Junior. Both of them barely heard the announcement of, "And it's Avatar in first place!"

Down on the track, Pablo met Tina at the rail, took one look at Wildfire's leg, and knew that there was some serious damage, "Excuse me, does anyone know a vet around here?" shouted Pablo.

"I'm a vet," said a guy coming out of the audience. "My name's Noah."

"Pablo Betart," said Pablo, shaking the vet's hand. "And this is Wildfire."

"Holy crap," said Junior, who was coming into view with Gillian right behind. "Tina, what did you do?"

"Nothing," said Tina. "The big dumb horse just got lazy and tripped."

"He's going to require extensive surgery," said Noah, who had both his hands on Wildfire's leg. "For that he'll need to be in a vet clinic with all the right equipment."

"How soon can we get him to one?" said Pablo.

"I don't know," said Noah. "Nobody's opened up a clinic around these parts in years."

"There's this one that Dad always used to go to on Riddle Road," said Junior.

"Oh yeah, I know that one," said Pablo. "Twenty minutes away, but it may be our best hope. Let's get him in the trailer."

"I'll help," said Tina, reaching for the reins.

"No!" yelled Pablo. "You stay the hell away from my horse!" Junior, Gillian, and Tina all starred at him. They had never known Pablo to snap at people like this.

"You think it's my fault, don't you?" said Tina. Instead of responding, Pablo took off Wildfire's saddle and started in the direction of the horse trailer. "Uh-huh, that's what you're thinking." She started after them with Junior and Gillian following behind. "You're thinking that I was doing something dirty that caused this to happen and that if that…Kris had been riding on him, this never would have happened. Well, I have news for you!"

"Tina!" Junior snapped.

"What?" said Tina, turning around and looking at him.

"This isn't about you!" said Junior.

Tina looked at Junior as if he'd grown six heads. "Huh? How is that even possible?"

Gillian smiled sweetly. "Tina, why don't you go to the bar and get a drink? After the stress of riding on a horse that fell down during the race, you deserve to relax."

That got a response. "Yeah, right," said Tina. "Totally." Then without looking back, she walked off in the other direction.

Gillian turned to Junior and rolled her eyes. "Gillian," said Junior. "Kris."

"What about her?" said Gillian.

"We need to go find her now," said Junior. "If we don't, she may never get to see Wildfire again."

"You're right," said Gillian.

"Hey, Pablo," said Junior. "Do you have any idea where Kris might be?"

"None whatsoever," said Pablo. "I wish I did. But thanks for getting rid of…" he gestured to Tina. "That."

"No problem," said Junior. Then he and Gillian were off on their way.


	9. What I Had To Do

"I can't believe that in a month, I'm going to be a single parent," said Danni as she handed Kris a saddle pad. "Heck, maybe it's less than a month. I'm not sure anymore."

"I'll never be a parent," said Kris, slapping the saddle pad on Bullwinkle's back. "Single or otherwise."

"How can you decide that now?" said Danni. "You're not even twenty-two yet."

"I've always known I wouldn't be a good mom," said Kris. "I have no idea what a good mom is supposed to be."

"Neither do I," said Danni. "I haven't had a mom since I was one."

"At least your mom didn't leave to go to bars and get drunk every night after she put you to bed," said Kris. "Every time I got nightmares and just wanted to crawl into bed with my mommy like every other five-year-old, I would find her either having sex with a stranger or not there at all."

Danni nodded sympathetically. "Well, you survived. She must have cared somewhat."

"Not enough," said Kris quietly. She tightened Bullwinkle's saddle on his back. "I know your dad is a screw up in a lot of ways, but at least he took good care of you."

"Mostly he paid nannies to take care of me," said Danni.

"You know what I mean," said Kris. "I think he wanted to be a good dad to you and Junior, but he didn't know how."

Danni sighed and handed Kris her riding helmet. "You know what kills me?"

"What?" said Kris.

"RJ would have been the best damn father ever," said Danni.

"Hey, Furillo!" called out the jockey who was riding the other horse. "Let's go!"

"Coming!" called Kris. Then she turned back to Danni. "You're gonna be a great mom, okay? Even if you screw up a few times, you're still gonna love this baby with all your heart and you'll try your best to give it the life it deserves. Ultimately, that's all that matters."

Danni smiled a little. "You'll help me, won't you?"

"I'll try," said Kris. Then she swung up onto Bullwinkle and trotted off to the starting line."

"Mom?" said Todd. "Are you going to the hospital to see Matt early?" It was Saturday, one day before the day Jean usually left the house, yet right now she was stepping into her shoes and grabbing her car keys.

"No," said Jean. "I'm going to the vet clinic to see Wildfire. He's been hurt."

"Oh, no," said Todd. "Is he gonna be okay?"

"Probably…not," said Jean. "I'm gonna be gone for a little while. Will you be okay alone?"

Todd shook his head defiantly. "Nope. Guess I'll have to come with you."

Jean sighed. "Of course. Come quickly."

Jean drove their car down to the vet clinic as quickly as she could. She remembered this feeling. The anticipation. The fear that she was never going to see someone she loved ever again. That no matter how fast she was going, she would still end up being too late. Her mind flashed back to the last times that she saw Kris and Matt.

"_The fact that you don't understand why I would never take that money is more disappointing to me than anything else."_

"_No Matt, don't. Here's the money. I haven't even touched it. I'm the one who stole the horse. They do not deserve to be punished. Jean, Pablo, and Matt…they didn't even know about it. Just me. If I plead guilty, will you leave the Ritters and Pablo alone?"_

"_Your jockey's license will be revoked in all fifty states."_

"_What about them?"_

"_We won't pursue them either."_

"_The fact that you did this is why I love you. It's also why you can't stay here anymore."_

"_She took the blame, protected us."_

"_If she hadn't run the race, there would be nothing to protect us from. We almost lost our family business today."_

"_She did what she thought was right!"_

"_That's right. And her judgment is off. Way off."_

"_You can't kick her out."_

"_I just did."_

"_Who the hell are you to say that? This is more than business, this is my life you're messing up!"_

"_You sold the horses without asking me?"_

"_I did what I had to do."_

"_First you kick Kris out for acting alone, and now you do THIS? I'm gonna rebuild this place. I'll get the horses back. I'll get Wildfire back. And I'll get Kris back because I need her!"_

"_She went against everything that this family stands for!"_

"_I love her! I WON'T let her go!"_

If only she'd realized that the match race was happening before it went down and stopped it. If only she'd seen that Kris had redeemed herself the minute she took the fall for all of them and let them take away her license. If only she hadn't kicked Kris out of Raintree. If only she'd stopped Matt from going after her. If only she'd gotten the emergency break fixed…

As soon as Jean pulled up to the vet clinic, she jerked the gear into park, turned off the car, and ran inside. She looked frantically at the row of stalls that she could see. Wildfire wasn't in any of them. "Pablo!" she yelled. "Where's Wildfire?"

"He's in surgery," said Pablo, coming over to her. "We won't know anything for a while. Is something else wrong?"

Jean shook her head. That's when she realized she was crying and shaking. "I just…hate myself."

"Come here," said Pablo. He pulled Jean into his arms and held her against his chest. "You have no reason to hate yourself."

"Yes I do," said Jean. "I might have just killed Wildfire. If Kris had been riding him instead of Tina…"

"Shhh," said Pablo. "There's no way anybody could have known that this would happen. Not to Wildfire, and not to Matt."

"I know," said Jean, although she still wasn't convinced that it wasn't her fault. "How did you know I was thinking about Matt?"

"Because I know you," said Pablo. Then without thinking, he kissed her on the forehead. Jean stopped crying and froze when a shock like fire went through her veins. In that moment, something changed.

"Hey, Mom?" said Todd. "Ken Davis just called your cell phone. Hope you don't mind, but he wants to know if Wildfire will be back on the racing track or if Davis Farms has one less opponent to deal with."

That wasn't it.

"Hey, Pablo, it's Junior. How's Wildfire? Okay, I'm glad to hear that. Thanks for keeping me posted. Yup. I'll let you know if we find anything. Bye."

"Any news?" said Gillian.

"No news is good news," said Junior.

"Hey, since we don't have any idea where we're going anyway, why don't we stop for the night?" said Gillian.

"Sure," said Junior. "I suppose it can't hurt."

"Great," said Gillian. "Let's stay at a motel. I'll pay for it."

"No need," said Junior. "I have my credit card."

"Since when do you have a credit card?" said Gillian.

"I don't," said Junior. "But my dad does."

Gillian smiled playfully. "You're awful."

"I know," said Junior.

"In that case," said Gillian. "Why don't we stay at the Ritz?"

"You got it," said Junior.

Gillian laughed and put her arms around Junior. "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you, too," said Junior.

Once at the hotel, Junior and Gillian decided to book the nicest room they could find aside from the honeymoon suite. "That's strange," said the clerk checking them in. "I've seen this credit card before."

"Really?" said Junior. "Was the last person who showed it to you an annoying old man?"

"No," said the clerk. "An annoying young woman. She kind of looked like you, only darker, and, well, female. And she was pregnant, although she wasn't showing yet."

"Oh my god," said Junior. "Danni's _pregnant_?"

"Can you tell us when she stayed here?" said Gillian.

"About seven months ago now?" said the clerk. "I'm not really sure. It was a while back. And she had this friend staying with her."

"Can you tell us what her friend looked like?" said Junior.

"Long brown hair, kind of sharp facial features, slightly taller than the other one but _way_ too skinny," said the clerk.

"Kris!" said Junior and Gillian in unison.

"You guys still want to book a room, right?" said the clerk.

"Yes," said Junior. "Definitely."


	10. Ready For This

By the time Tina got back to Sullivan Stables-formerly known as Raintree-she was slightly drunk and completely freaked out. Sure she was important to the operation of this place, but a farm with a reputation like this one would have no trouble hiring another jockey that was almost as good as her-maybe _as_ good. But there was no way that Tim could replace Pablo. He knew all the horses on the farm like the back of his hand. And now that Pablo was even more upset with her than always…what if he threatened to leave if Tim didn't fire Tina?"Hey, Tim?" said Tina, stumbling into his house. There he was sitting on his living room couch reading a racing magazine.

"There you are," said Tim. "Pablo left me a message about Wildfire getting injured during the race. Where have you been?"

"Oh I, uh, followed him to the hospital," said Tina. "He's going to stay with Wildfire overnight, I think."

"I understand," said Tim. "Hey, are _you_ okay?"

"Yeah," said Tina. "I just feel so bad about what happened." She casually sat down on the living room couch and took off her riding boots. "I just keep wondering, if there's anything I could have done to keep Wildfire from slipping…" Then Tina's silks came off. Underneath that she was wearing nothing but a skimpy tank top that was almost see-through.

"…if this whole thing is my fault?"

Tim was silent for a moment. "Oh, sorry," he said. Tim had gotten momentarily distracted starring at Tina's breasts through her tank top, which of course was exactly what he had wanted. "No, it's not your fault, Tina," said Tim. "I know you. You're a great jockey."

"Thanks," said Tina. She smiled sweetly and kissed Tim on the cheek. "Hey, Amelia's in bed, isn't she?"

"Yeah," said Tim. "She's sleeping like a baby." He was barely even done talking when Tina slipped out of her riding pants.

"Good," said Tina. Then she moved in for the kill.

"Two wins and sixteen hundred dollars," said Danni. "Not bad for one day's work."

"Right," said Kris, turning on a lamp in their shack as they walked in the door. "Races back home were worth, what, twenty-thousand dollars even for a small one?" said Kris. "Face it, we're making pocket money."

"Pocket money is enough to pay the bills around here," said Danni. "But just barely. I'm gonna go take a shower."

"I'm gonna go feed the horses," said Kris. She went into the adjoining room and started scooping grain into feed buckets. Not five minutes later, she heard a scream and darted back into the house. "Danni, are you okay?" called Kris.

"Something really weird just happened," Danni stumbled out of the shower wrapped in a towel that just barely covered her with the baby bump. "A whole bunch of water just came rushing out."

"Of the showerhead?" Kris guessed. It wasn't unlike them to have unruly plumbing.

"No," said Danni. "Out of _me_." Then she made a motion like her stomach was in spasms. "Oh my god, I think I'm going into labor."

"I thought you weren't having the baby for another few weeks?" said Kris.

"So did I," said Danni. "You have to get me to the hospital, now!"

"Danielle Davis?" said the nurse at the maternity ward. "Who's your OB?"

"I don't have one," said Danni. After two hours in the car, she now felt like her stomach was being wrung out by someone with very strong hands.

The nurse wrote something down. "Have you ever seen a medical health professional about your pregnancy?" Danni shook her head.

"I don't understand this," said Danni. "I thought I wasn't due for a month."

"Ms. Davis, are you basing that off of the date that you think your child was conceived?" said the nurse.

"I know the exact night that it was conceived," said Danni. "I've only been pregnant for eight months and two days, and pregnancy is nine months long."

"Actually, pregnancy is eight and a half months long," said the nurse. "The doctors just count the date back two weeks to your last period because most people don't know the exact date that they got pregnant. So technically you're only going into labor two weeks early, and that happens all the time." From the look on her face, it was almost as if she was trying to accuse Danni of being a bad person because she wasn't seeing a doctor.

"You know what?" said Danni. "If you don't wipe that disgusting look off your face, I'm going to…"

"Okay, let's just get you to a seat," said Kris.

"We need to get her to a room now unless she wants to give birth out here in the waiting room," said the nurse. "Danielle is having this baby _now_." She walked around and Danni made her way to the back with Kris on her left side and the nurse on her right.

"Dammit, RJ!" yelled Danni. "Why did you have to _do_ this to me?"

"They always say that," said the nurse.

A few minutes later, Danni was settled into the hospital bed. "Okay, thanks," said Danni. She was breathing hard. "I'm okay. Can I have some painkillers now or something?"

"There's not enough time for that," said the nurse.

"_WHAT_?" screamed Danni. Just then, a man in scrubs walked into the room and, without even asking, grabbed Danni's pants and yanked them off along with her underwear. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

"Danni, you're HAVING A BABY," said Kris.

"No!" said Danni. She took both of Kris's hands and squeezed them. "I'm not ready for this!"

"Just push!" said the nurse.

Danni laid her head back and screamed as loud as she could, pushed, and crushed both Kris's hands.

The next screams they heard were the first cries of Danni and RJ's baby.


	11. Just Like Him

When Junior opened his eyes the next morning, he was laying in a soft canopy bed with Gillian's head on his shoulder and light trickling through fancy curtains into the big hotel room. For a moment he almost thought they were still on vacation in Europe. Then he remembered about Wildfire's injury and shot up. Gillian moaned in her sleep when her head fell back down against the pillow. Junior tucked the blanket around her shoulders and left her there, because in his jacket pocket across the room his phone was ringing. Junior looked at the clock on the wall. Seven o'clock in the morning. Who would be calling him at seven a.m.?"

Of course," mumbled Junior when he saw the phone number for Davis Farms on his phone.

"Hey, son, where did you go after the race?" said Ken. "I was hoping you and Gillian would be in the winners circle with us."

"We left to go find Kris after Wildfire got injured," said Junior.

"Why, what's she gonna do?" said Ken sarcastically. "Use her magic want to make him better? Christ, son. I thought you were done chasing after that girl."

"It's not anything like that," said Junior. "I'm not "chasing after" Kris. And if I were, I probably wouldn't be doing it with Gillian."

"Oh, right," said Ken. "Well, anyway, I called Jean and she said that Wildfire survived his operation. It's just a question now of whether it worked or not. The best she can hope for is that he'll recover enough to become a pleasure horse."

"Cheerful much?" remarked Junior.

"Well, of course I'm happy that Wildfire survived," said Ken. "But he is our biggest competition. It couldn't hurt to keep him off the track."

"You're a piece of work, Dad," said Junior. "Anyways, we might also find Danni."

Ken laughed. "No you won't. While you and Gillian were gone, I hired three private investigators to try to find her and none of them could even get a lead. She didn't tell anybody where she was going, and nobody's known where she's been since." For the first time since he'd gotten back, Ken's voice was actually truly sad.

"Actually, I've already found something out," said Junior.

"Really?" said Ken. "What? HOW?"

"Complete coincidence," said Junior honestly. "I'll tell you more about it later. I have to go now."

"Okay," said Ken. "Call me back."

"I will," said Junior. Then he hung up the phone.

"So…you're not going to tell your father that he's getting a grandchild?"

Junior turned around. Gillian was sitting up in the bed now. She was wearing a tiny silk nightgown she'd bought in Paris, and her messy blonde hair fell around her face and down her back. He couldn't help but stare at her for a moment. Gillian smiled. "What?"

"Nothing," said Junior. "You just look so perfect right now."Gillian's face lit up and she giggled a bit. "So do you."

Junior walked over to the bed and kissed her as he sat down on it. "You know, if we weren't busy looking for Kris and Dani right now, I would so want to rip that nightgown off of you."

"Well…" said Gillian. "Kris and Danni have been missing for nearly eight months now. I think they'll be fine for another twenty minutes, don't you?""

Yeah," said Junior. "I think they will." He looked away for a moment, then pulled Gillian back into a passionate kiss and the two of them dropped back down onto the bed.

* * *

><p>At the hospital, Dani was happily laying in her bed and gazing down at her tiny perfect baby, Ramona Jennifer Blake. Kris came in. "Hey, I brought some stuff."<p>

"Thanks," said Dani. "Are you still racing against Trailblazer today?"

"No," said Kris. "I cancelled. I'm gonna stay with you for a while and then I'll buy some stuff for the baby."

Dani smiled gratefully. "I never thought I would say this but Kris Furillo, you are an angel."

Kris smiled. She remembered what Dani had said to her that night after the match race. "You and me don't need anybody but ourselves." Dani couldn't have been more wrong. They needed each other. Not just to run their business, but to stay strong.

"Are you gonna call her RJ for short?" asked Kris.

"Nope," said Dani. "That is why I picked her name, though. She looks just like him, doesn't she?"

"Yes, she does," said Kris. That was RJ's handsome face the baby had, and RJ's brown wisps of hair and piercing blue eyes. "My mom told me that I looked like my dad when I was born, too."

"And I look just like my dad in my baby picture except for the skin tone," said Dani. "I think it's natures way of telling the guy that the kid they're about to raise is actually theirs." Then she sighed deeply. Ramona looked just like RJ, and there was no way he would ever get a chance to raise her.

* * *

><p>In Matt's mind, he was still running through the back woods at Raintree trying to catch up to Kris. He still loved her. And he still wouldn't let her go, despite the fact that he was only getting farther from his house and Kris was faint almost to the point of being a white silhouette.<p>

"Hey, Matt? It's Mom and Todd. Listen, something pretty bad happened."

I already know something pretty bad happened, thought Matt. You kicked Kris and Wildfire and the other horses out of Raintree. Most importantly Kris. And now all he could do anymore was try to get her back.

"Wildfire's been injured at the track."

"He had to have an operation. We don't know if his leg will recover or not."

Matt stopped and looked around the dark woods. Wildfire was Kris's favorite horse. He wanted to tell her that he was her, but he would have to catch up to her first. He started running after her again.

"Mom? Do you think Matt's ever gonna wake up?"

"I hope he does."

Wake up? What were they talking about? He wasn't sleeping. He was doing anything but.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Pablo returned to Sullivan Stables. Tina was already speeding around the practice track on one of the young horses against one of the exercise riders on a different young horse. Exactly the way they were supposed to. As if Tina hadn't almost gotten Wildfire killed the day before.<p>

"Excuse me, Mr. Pablo?" he looked down at ten-year-old Amelia Sullivan. "Will you help me with my pony?"

"Sure," said Pablo. "He probably just needs something nasty sprayed on the wood where he cribs." Pablo paused just for a second to glare at Tina, even though she didn't know he was watching, and then headed back to the barn with Amelia.

"Does that girl have trouble sleeping?" said Amelia.

"Tina?" said Pablo, puzzled.

Amelia nodded. "I heard Daddy say that she's bad in bed."

Pablo nearly choked as he got down a bottle of spray. "When did he say that?"

"This morning," said Amelia. "I heard him talking to my Uncle Jordan on the phone. He also said that making it with her was about as much fun as getting thrown off a stallion. What do you think they were making?"

Pablo bit his lip. "The bed." He sprayed the wood on the door to the pony's stall.

"I only make my bed when somebody forces me to," said Amelia. "Does that mean that I'm bad in bed like Tina?"

"No way," said Pablo. "Believe me, when it comes to making beds, _no one_ screws around the way Tina does."

"That's a bad word," said Amelia.

"Yeah, sorry," said Pablo. "Excuse me."


	12. No Going Back

"Okay, so the plan is just to look in every hospital we can find and ask if Danielle Davis has ever made an appointment there with a baby doctor?" said Gillian.

"Yep," said Junior. "It's the only thing I can think of."

"I can't believe we're doing this," said Gillian. She opened the passenger door to Junior's silver porshe and climbed in.

"Me neither," said Junior. "It's such a wild goose chase. At least when we were in Europe we knew how to get to what we were looking for! You know, ever since I started dating you, my life has just been one big adventure,

"Oh really?" said Gillian.

"Yeah," said Junior. "Up until then, the closest thing I did to something like this was riding out into the mountains with Matt helping him look for a bunch of missing horses. And the only reason that I agreed to go was because I wanted to make a play for Kris." Gillian laughed and rolled her eyes. "Dani ended up following us up there, of course, because she does that."

"Oh yeah, you, Matt, Dani, and Kris?" said Gillian. "Sounds interesting."

"It was," said Junior. "We stopped to swim and ended up playing truth or dare."

Gillian laughed. "Oh my god, that's so junior high. I love it!"

"And then Kris confessed that she doesn't know how to swim, Matt confessed that he caught Jean making out with some bald old guy, and _Dani_ confessed that she tried to find our mother and didn't even tell me," said Junior.

"Which turned out to be just your mother," said Gillian.

"Yes," said Junior. "And I was like, oh my god, why didn't you tell me? And she was like, I wanted to show you and Dad what I can do. Can you believe it?"

"Yes," said Gillian. "Because that's what you want to do now."

"What?" said Junior.

"You know, bring Dani and her baby back home and show your dad what you did," said Gillian. "That's why you didn't tell him she's pregnant."

"Wow," said Junior. "How do you know me so well?"

"Because I'm your other half," said Gillian. "Haven't you figured that out yet?"

"Yeah," said Junior, "I have." He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss. "Oh my god, I still can't believe my sister's pregnant. I could be an uncle right now."

"How do you think she got pregnant?" said Gillian.

Junior looked at her seriously. "Do I have to draw you a diagram?"

Gillian laughed. "You know what I mean!"

"I'm really not sure," said Junior. "My sister can be…quite wild."

"So you think she doesn't even know?" said Gillian.

"Possibly," said Junior. "The whole time we were in high school she was dating Matt on and off, but she never had sex with him until they tried to run Dani Davis Farms together."

"Dani Davis Farms?" said Gillian. "What's that?"

"Long story," said Junior. "Anyway, Dani never had sex with Matt or any of her other high school boyfriends. Instead she went off and seduced Dad's business clients and threatened to tell him about it if they didn't sign deals with him. Then she would tell Dad that she talked them into signing on with her, and he would be proud."

"Oh my god!" said Gillian. "Oh, Dani!"

"And then she stopped doing that when she got her own horses to race and realized that she needed to be more professional, and plus she really missed Matt for a while," said Junior. "But the only guy who she ever actually fell in love with was…" he paused and looked around. "HOLY CRAP."

"What?" said Gillian.

"Remember RJ Blake?" said Junior.

"Of course," said Gillian. "What about him?"

"I think he must be the father of Dani's child," said Junior.

"What?" said Gillian. "Are you sure?"

"He must be," said Junior. "At one point she said she felt like Shiek O'Hattan was making eyes at her and she told him to keep it professional because RJ had just died. If she's having too hard of a time getting over him to go out with an exotic multibillionaire who's clearly her type, who else would have gotten her pregnant?"

"Your right," said Gillian. "Goodness. Maybe we should ask at all the hospitals if there was ever a Danielle Blake staying there as well."

"Sounds like a good idea," said Junior. He stepped on the gas, and he, Gillian, and the silver car went speeding along down the highway.

* * *

><p>"Knock knock?"<p>

Tim looked up from his desk. There was Tina Sharp standing in the doorway wearing skin-tight pants and a tight satin blue shirt that had a ruffly neckline so low it was practically a belt. "Oh, hey Tina. Come in." Please tell me she's just here to talk about horses, he thought. "What's going on?"

"I just came in to say that I'm really sorry about last night," said Tina. "That was totally unprofessional. I'd had a few drinks, so I wasn't thinking."

Tim smiled. "It's okay, Tina. You're forgiven."

"Thank you," said Tina.

Tim looked down at his figures. How much money he'd set aside for hay, grain, and bedding, which horses needed better tack, if he had enough grooms…

Suddenly, he realized that Tina still hadn't left.

"You know," said Tina. "I've been told that I'm _much_ more satisfying when I'm not drunk."

"Oh, really?" said Tim.

"Really," said Tina.

Tim put down his pen and stood up. "Would you like to show me how much?"

Tina closed the door to the office and walked further in. "Absofuckinlutely."

* * *

><p>"Kris, are you ever going to get back to horseback riding, or do you just want to be my nanny?" Dani joked. She was filling out some forms while Kris stood across the room from her rocking the baby wrapped in a soft pink blanket. Ramona wasn't even crying, in fact, she was barely awake, but Kris was rocking her anyway.<p>

"I'll get back to riding," said Kris. "Just as soon as you take this baby away from me so that I can stop falling in love with her."

"Just a second," said Dani. She made a couple of strokes with her pen. "Okay, I'm done now. Gimme!"

Kris went over to Dani and very carefully transferred Ramona from her arms to her mother's arms. "She's so tiny and fragile," said Kris. "I can't believe they let us take her home from the hospital."

"Me neither," said Dani. "I don't know what I'm doing!" She imagined what would happen if RJ was here. He would probably be just a nervous as she was, but completely fawning over his baby daughter who had the exact same face as him. At least the way Dani remembered it. She didn't even have a picture of him. Junior probably did, though.

For the first time, Dani actually wondered what would happen if she ever returned to Davis Farms. If she'd returned six months ago, her dad probably would have been horrified at the prospect of Dani being pregnant with RJ's child. She could just picture Ken saying, "You're thinking of having a baby with that cowboy? You're not even twenty yet. Just take care of the problem for god's sake!" But now things would be different. He might take one look at his baby granddaughter and fall in love with her.

Of course, even if Dani did go home to Davis Farms, she couldn't really do anything there. Not without a racing license.

And what about Kris? Dani couldn't leave her here by herself. Not after all the help she'd been giving her with Ramona.

No. There was no going back.


End file.
